MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.  Stellar wide receiver Randy Moss expected to play a full season for the New England Patriots, then explore the free agent market. He made his debut Sunday for the Tennessee Titans, his third team in the last six weeks.

Veteran quarterback Chad Pennington eagerly embraced his opportunity to start instead of third-year man Chad Henne, believing he might give the Miami Dolphins a needed spark. He lasted two plays before injuring his right shoulder. Henne later suffered a left knee injury, leading to Tyler Thigpen's fourth-quarter heroics.

Kerry Collins, another veteran signal-caller, looked forward to giving Tennessee a strong performance in his second start this season while Vince Young recovered from a sprained left ankle. He hurt his left calf, forcing Young to play the second half.

Miami's zany 29-17 victory against Tennessee made perhaps the one statement about the NFL that can be carved in stone: Plans are made to be changed.

"It was different. It was very different," Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown said. "Whatever it takes to win, that's what we were thinking about."

Miami (5-4) needed four players to throw passes before earning its first home win in four tries. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall threw a deep ball that landed incomplete when the Dolphins resorted to the Wildcat formation before Thigpen's fourth-quarter entrance.

Miami coach Tony Sparano, pondering the long list of medical woes that have befallen quarterbacks this season, said, "You don't have enough of them. You really don't. These defensive guys are getting too good."

He could easily have been referring to Vontae Davis, his second-year cornerback. Davis did not put a dent in any passers, but he almost surely put a hurt on Moss' ego. The wide receiver, who owns 153 career touchdowns, was targeted four times. With Davis blanketing him, he wrapped his red gloves around one pass, for a gain of 26 yards, with 4:42 to play.

While it was startling that Moss, 33, did not play a larger role for Tennessee (5-4) after joining the club Nov. 3 and having a bye week to prepare, coach Jeff Fisher said it was a reflection of the defensive coverage.

"If we get the right coverage, he gets the ball," he said. "If we don't, somebody else gets the ball."

It seemed to be a diplomatic way of saying that Moss, despite his 6-4 height, through-the-roof leaping ability and his reputation for blazing speed, was not able to break free.

"It was actually a bad game for me," Moss said. "I think I just tried to do as much hustling as I could. I just tried to stay within the offense."

There was no sugarcoating anything when it came to Moss' absence on what proved to be the last offensive play.

"He was not out there for any reason other than he was just tired," Fisher said.

With Moss watching on fourth-and-20 at Miami's 29, and with his team trailing by the eventual final margin, Young was left to arc a desperation pass into the middle of the end zone for Justin Gage. Safety Reshad Jones intercepted.

Although Moss' ineffectiveness this season would seem to point to a falling star, Davis said, "I still think he's a good player. I wish the best to him. I think he's still got a couple of years left."

Moss has 23 catches for 339 yards and five TDs this season.

Sadly for Pennington, 34, he might not have any time left after becoming the 49th quarterback to start for an NFL team this season. Problems with his throwing shoulder have dogged him through much of his 11-year career. He contemplated retirement when a recurrence that required surgery sidelined him after three games in 2009.

He did not meet with reporters following his latest crushing disappointment, and the extent of his injury remains unclear. No one felt worse for Pennington than Sparano.

"I know exactly the road this guy had to take to get himself ready to go and to get himself back and he really had a good week of practice," the coach said. "You want to talk about a guy bouncing around like he was a 20-year-old again. To go out there and not be able to, to play one play or two plays, whatever it was in that situation, I'm sure it's really tough."

Henne, who was using crutches afterward and said he would be going for an MRI, said he was able to speak only briefly to Pennington, his valued mentor and friend since Miami drafted him in the second round out of Michigan in 2008.

"I'm sure he's going to have some decisions to make," Henne said. "I feel for him."

Sparano said he must await test results before the extent of the injuries to Pennington and Henne are clear.

After losing his starting job to Pennington and watching Thigpen perform well against Tennessee, Henne is eager to regain his job. The Dolphins have a quick turnaround with a Thursday night game against the Chicago Bears looming.

"If I can stand on it and can run on it, I am going to be playing," Henne said.

Thigpen steadies offense

Henne, 11-10 with 23 interceptions and 20 touchdowns as a starter, never expected he would have the chance to rejoin the lineup so quickly.

"I was obviously shocked and, at the same time, excited to get in there and help my team win," he said.

Henne hit on 19 of 28 passes for 240 yards with one touchdown and one interception before he was knocked from the game with 55 seconds left in the third quarter and Miami leading 20-17.

The Dolphins, facing second-and-10 at their 35, went to the Wildcat, with running back Brown at the controls. The alignment had lost some of its bite, of late, since most defenses were prepared for it.

But there was no way either team could be prepared for everything that happened in the Florida sun. The Wildcat was a perfect stopgap measure.

After Marshall threw incomplete deep down the middle to running back Patrick Cobbs, Brown twice handed off to running mate Ricky Williams for gains of 14 and 23 yards that helped position Dan Carpenter's 42-yard field goal.

Thigpen, the answer to a trivia question as the first quarterback to play for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, gave Miami the steady play it needed on its next set of downs.

"Guys were looking at me like, 'This is your team now.' When you lose your first two quarterbacks, guys are looking for answers," he said.

On his first full series of downs, Thigpen completed four of five passes for 64 yards, ending in a 9-yard dart to Anthony Fasano that provided the final score.

Thigpen, who began his career as a seventh-round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings in 2007, credited a Dolphins coaching staff that goes to great lengths each week to remind all three quarterbacks to be prepared for anything. Offensive coordinator Dan Henning takes that mantra so seriously each passer is required to submit plays he would be most comfortable running.

"When Pennington went down, they pulled out Henne's game plan," Thigpen said. "When Henne went down, they pulled out my game plan."

The scoring throw to Fasano in the right flat that effectively ended the bizarre contest with 5:26 left was near the top of Thigpen's list.

More twists, turns for Moss

The wild afternoon served as a perfect backdrop for Moss' debut. Consider the twists and turns his life has taken in half a season. After being viewed as a key cog for New England as Tom Brady's big-play man, he received the startling news Oct. 6 that he had been dealt to Minnesota for a third-round draft choice.

It was thought Minnesota had made an outstanding acquisition because Moss and big-armed quarterback Brett Favre had longed to play together. The Vikings seemed to have many other pieces in place to recover from a rocky start and make a Super Bowl run.

Moss' return to Minnesota, the place he had called home at the start of his career, lasted four games in which the Vikings believe he caused more trouble for the organization than for opposing defenses (13 catches, 174 yards, two TDs).

Tennessee, finding itself with a sudden hole when dynamic wide receiver Kenny Britt injured his hamstring, was the only team to put in a waiver claim for Moss.

"I just want to fit within the offense," Moss said. "Me being a decoy, moving the ball, help the team win. … This game hurts."

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